Do you feel overwhelmed by all of the health information you read on a daily basis? Healthy Lifestyle Docs is here to help you simplify your life by showing you how to make healthy lifestyle changes that will make you look and feel your very best.
We’re both doctors and keep up with all of the latest news and studies about health and nutrition. We’ll translate that information into information you can use to enhance YOUR life.
As you might expect, we’re focused on health in our own lives. We know it’s not always easy to do “the right thing,” but we’re here to motivate you and give you the health information you need to help you maximize your health, happiness, and lifespan.
Yes, you’ll have to do some work yourself, but we promise it will be worth it.
What You Won’t Get at Healthy Lifestyle Docs:
- Boring medical jargon (well, maybe just a little)
- Boring statistics
- Long articles that make your eyes glaze over
- Information you can’t apply to your life
What You Will Get:
- Useful health and fitness tips you can put into practice right away
- The latest health and fitness news and how it affects your life
Some of the Topics We’ll Focus On:
- How to lose weight without starving yourself
- How to fit exercise into your busy schedule
- Simple changes you can make to your diet that will make you healthier
- What supplements are worth taking and which to avoid.
- Things you do to live longer and, most importantly, be healthy while you live
Enjoy the Blog!
I am looking forward to getting some good hints for healthful eating.
Sallie, we’ll be talking a lot about healthful eating. If you have any specific questions you’d like to see covered, let us know. 🙂
Thank you for including me. I’ve been looking forward to being added to your newsletter list.
Joanna, we’re glad to have you. Feel free to suggest any topics you’d like for us to cover. 🙂
I’ll be having surgery soon and am concerned my recent weight loss will be negated by recovery time period without being able to exercise. I’d like to see some easily prepared healthy meals in can make with lower calories.
For abs I would try to do at least 15 reps per set but that will vary depending how diculffit the exercise is and how fatigued your abs already are. If you don’t take any real breaks between these exercises, it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t get 15+ reps per set. Overall though I would encourage you to do higher reps for abs and avoid weighted abdominal exercises so you build small lean high endurance ab muscle and not as bulky
I recently dvsiocered your blog/website and have genuinely enjoyed reading this and some of the other posts. I thought I would dive out from the shadows and leave my first comment. I’m not certain what to say other than I have enjoyed reading and will continue to visit as frequently as I can.
Thank you for reading. 🙂
What are your thoughts on alternative medical treatments? i.e. herbal cleansing, colonics & fasting etc… are these things beneficial, reccommended or neccessary? I thought of trying a cleanse but wanted your opinion
I’m not a big fan of colonics or many of the commercial cleansing and de-tox products. Research does suggest there are health benefits to fasting for 16 to 24 hours occasionally. It seems to improve insulin sensitivity, which may lower the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Some research also suggests that short-term fasting reduces inflammation and has anti-aging benefits. As far as cleansing and de-toxing, I think the best way to do that is to eat a diet high in fiber that emphasizes fruits and vegetables. You can’t do much better than that. 🙂
That’s an excellent question. In fact, it probably deserves an article. If you have to eat a piece of bread, 100% whole-wheat bread is a better choice than eating white bread, but I don’t believe there’s any reason to go out of your way to eat whole wheat or whole grain products.
There are several reasons why whole grains may not be as healthy as they sound. First of all, they contain phytates, compounds that block the absorption of some minerals including calcium, zinc and iron. They also contain lectins. Some experts believe that lectins contribute to insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Add that to the fact that 1% of the population has celiac disease and and an even higher number are sensitive to gluten in wheat, barley and rye, and you’ll see there are some compelling reasons not to go overboard eating whole grains.
On the plus side, they are a good source of fiber, antioxidants and some vitamins and minerals, but you can get these by eating more fruits and vegetables. As far as what we do, we don’t actively try to add whole grains to our diet, but on those occasions when we do eat a piece of bread, we make it whole wheat bread since it’s higher in fiber and causes a less rapid rise in blood sugar.
If you’re concerned about your family history of type 2 diabetes, I would limit processed foods and eat more high-fiber fruits and vegetables, healthy fats in nuts, avocados, olive oil and fatty fish, and lean sources of protein, especially fish. I wouldn’t go out of my way to add more whole grains to your diet, but when you do eat a piece of bread, choose whole-wheat over white.
Hope this helps. Thanks for reading. 🙂
Great to know! thanks so much for your quick reply and detailed response! much appreciated
I am a patient of Dr.Apollo’s and consider myself lucky to have been refered to him.He is an excellent doctor.I wanted to get your take on honey and powdered cinnamon.Saw an article extolling the virtues of mixing the two.Fact or internet b.s.?
Richard, look for an article on this topic next week. 🙂
Tried taking cinnamon with honey for better than a month.It actually seems to be helping my reflux a good bit.And it tastes better than baking soda.
Richard, I’m glad it’s helping. I’m a big fan of cinnamon myself. We have a big package of Ceylon cinnamon in the cabinet and use it every day. 🙂
Could the Drs comment on the large number of milk substitutes available at the grocery (almond, soy, etc). Any advantages over cows milk or better to just limit milk intake ? Thanks
George, sorry to be so slow responding. I didn’t get email notification of your comment. There really are a lot of milk substitutes these days. We use coconut milk and almond milk. The brands we choose have no added sugar and are free of carrageenan, a thickner that’s linked with colon cancer in animals.
We prefer milk substitutes over cow’s milk because even milk from cows that haven’t been injected with growth hormone still is a source of hormones including estrogen produced by the cow. There are some studies suggesting that the hormones in cow’s milk may increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer. Here’s an interesting article on the topic:
http://animalrights.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=animalrights&cdn=newsissues&tm=307&f=20&tt=2&bt=9&bts=9&zu=http%3A//www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html
Then there’s the issue of lactose intolerance that many adults are troubled by. In addition, lactose in milk has been linked with ovarian cancer. Here’s a link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050805064340.htm
That’s why we stick with milk substitutes. Maybe we’ll do an article on milk substitutes soon. Thanks for the great question. 🙂
Can you comment on the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar and if it is a good addition to a healthy diet?
Cindy, great question. Apple cider vinegar has a number of possible health benefits. There’s some evidence that it helps with blood sugar control and increases satiety so you eat less. Sounds like a good topic for an article, don’t you think? We’ll get a article out on it in the next few weeks. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 🙂
I used to eat rocks and I turned out OK.Depending on who you ask.
Glad to hear the rocks didn’t do any permanent damage. LOL!
What’s the latest on cooking with teflon coated pans?
Richard, I think they’re a concern. Teflon is made from PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), a compound that causes cancer in animals and is suspected of causing cancer in humans. There are some possible alternatives to teflon out there. One is called Thermolon. This sounds like a good topic for an article. 🙂 Teflon is also used to coat pizza boxes, fast food containers, microwave popcorn bags and stain resistant carpeting and clothing. We no longer use teflon coated cookery ourselves due to the possible health risks. Great question!
I enjoy your articles, informative and so helpful, I learn something new useful and applicable with each edition. I’m very interested in learning more about functional medicine and the use of nutrition and supplements to protect and improve our health. Thanks a bunch for your focus, time, efforts and sharing the health tips. Terrific job and so much appreciated. Jerry
Jerry, thank you so much for the vote of confidence. We really appreciate that! When I get started in functional medicine, I’ll share what I learn through the blog, so we can all learn together. Thank you for reading. Let us know if we can ever be of assistance to you. 🙂
I enjoy reading your postings. Very helpful. Please continue. Thanks so much !
Thank you, Ted. If have any topics you’d like to see covered, just email. Thanks for reading. 🙂